Generally, light sources emit light in a spherical pattern. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) are unique in that they emit light into a hemispherical pattern. Therefore, to utilize an LED as a light source conventionally reflectors are placed in front of an LED.
FIG. 1 shows a background LED illumination device 10 including an LED 1 and a reflector 11. In the background LED illumination device in FIG. 1 the LED 1 and reflector 11 are oriented along the same axis 12, i.e. along a central optical axis 12 of the reflector 11, and the LED 1 points directly out of the reflector 11 along the axis 12.
With the LED illumination device 10 in FIG. 1, wide-angle light is redirected off of the reflector 11 and narrow angle light directly escapes. The result is that the output of the LED illumination device 10 is a narrower and more collimated beam of light. Thereby, with such an LED illumination device 10, a circular-based illumination pattern is created.